


Vent

by IronWoman359



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Gen, Patton is sad, SO, be warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-10
Updated: 2018-05-10
Packaged: 2019-05-04 18:18:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14598912
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IronWoman359/pseuds/IronWoman359
Summary: Ever since the Moving On video, Patton's been trying to learn that its okay to be sad and express sad feelings to the others. He visits Virgil late one night, overwhelmed with nostalgia, and asks if he can stay in his room for a bit. Virgil's room makes all his emotions overflow and he feels like he can finally vent out all the feelings while Virgil just holds him and listens.





	Vent

Virgil was, oddly enough, asleep. Usually, he was the one knocking on Patton’s door, a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and dark thoughts wrapped around his brain, not the other way around.

Still, when a soft knock sounded through his room, accompanied by an even softer  _“Virgil?”_ the anxious side was awake instantly, making his way across the room to open his door. Sure enough, Patton stood outside, looking utterly exhausted.

“Oh, were you asleep, Kiddo?” Patton asked, taking in Virgil’s bed head and smeared eyeshadow. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” 

“If I’m allowed to ‘drop in at any hour of the night or day,’ then you are too,” Virgil said quietly, quoting what Patton had told him on numerous occasions when it had been  _him_ stammering apologies well past midnight. “What is it?” 

Patton sighed and that single sigh and the weight it carried was all Virgil needed to hear. He stepped back and opened the door wide so Patton could come in, keeping an eye on the paternal side’s eyes as he did so. Sure enough, almost as soon as he entered Virgil’s room, thick dark circles appeared beneath them, making him appear even more beaten down than he clearly already was.

“Are you sure here is where you want to be?” Virgil asked, not taking his eyes off Patton as he sat down cross legged on his bed. Patton nodded and looked around, still clutching the blanket around his shoulders like a lifeline. 

“My…my room is…it’s just  _too much_ ,” he admitted, his breath catching in his throat. His eyes were wide and glassy, and he looked down, gripping the blanket so tightly that his knuckles went white. 

“Well…” Virgil said slowly. “My room may not exactly be the most comforting…” 

Patton looked up, ready to lecture Virgil about talking bad about himself, even in his current state, only to see Virgil patting the spot on the bed next to him.

“But it’s a great place to vent,” the anxious side finished, a small but warm smile playing at his lips. “This place magnifies everything so much…it’s kinda impossible to hold things back,” he adds, looking pointedly at his fellow side. 

Patton smiled a bit at that, and crawled onto the bed next to Virgil, leaving a few inches between the two of them. He glanced hesitantly at the distance, then looked up at Virgil. Before the question even passed his lips, Virgil wordlessly scooted closer, closing the gap between them and wrapping his arm around Patton’s shoulders. The moral side sighed again and leaned into the touch. Virgil could feel some of the tension leave his body, and he nodded in approval.

“That’s it, Pat,” he murmured, reaching his hand up and running it through Patton’s hair. “Just let it all out.” 

And Patton did, the emotional dam he’d been building up finally breaking. Tears rolled down his cheeks and his breath came in short gasps as he talked into Virgil’s chest, releasing everything he’d been holding on to.

“It’s…it’s just there’s so many  _memories_ in there and I can’t ever forget them, but sometimes I  _want to,_  Virgil, I want to so badly be-because, because if I forgot at least it wouldn’t  _hurt_  so much anymore, but if I f-forgot, if  _Thomas_ forgot, it’d be like the  _good_ times never happened and we can’t, we can’t  _lose_ those, it’s all we have left, b-but…but even the  _good_ memories hurt now, and I’m still  _feeling this way, why am I still feeling this way?”_

Sobs wracked Patton’s body and he clung to Virgil tighter, as though if he let go the anxious side would simply cease to exist. 

“We-we even  _talked_ about this, with Thomas and  _everyone,_  and we talked about moving  _on,_ but  _I can’t_ some days,  _I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I just **can’t** …” _

“Shh…” Virgil whispered, rubbing Patton’s back gently. “You have nothing to be sorry for, Pat.” 

“I-I…” Patton hiccuped, and tilted his head to look Virgil in the eyes. “I just…I still feel…” he turned away again, and Virgil knew that look all too well. 

“Guilty,” he finished, his voice barely audible. Patton just nodded, squeezing his eyes shut as a few more tears slipped out, rolling down his already blotchy cheeks. 

“Patton, look at me,” Virgil said gently, and eventually the grieving side did, puffy red eyes meeting the deep chocolate brown. “You remember what I told you last time? About feeling guilty?” Patton nodded, looking away again. 

“H-how you’re…you’re reacting for h-however long is…” he bit his lip as tears welled up in his eyes yet again, threatening to spill over his lids. 

“Completely normal,” Virgil finished, finding Patton’s hand and giving it a squeeze. “Not bad, not strange, and-” 

“Not stupid,” Patton murmured, giving Virgil’s hand a faint squeeze back. Virgil nodded, and reached out to brush a few tears from Patton’s cheek. 

“It’s ok to feel this way, Patton. It’s all part of the healing process.” 

Patton looked up at him, a shaky smile on his face. 

“Thanks, Kiddo,” he whispered, his voice still raw from crying, but his breathing more under control now. Virgil smiled back, noting with some satisfaction that Patton’s eye shadow had faded from a heavy black to a light grey. 

“Anytime, Dad.” 

Patton grinned at that, and nuzzled closer to Virgil, a large yawn finally escaping him. “You should try and get some sleep,” Virgil added, realizing how utterly exhausted Patton must be after such a long cry. 

“Can…can I stay here tonight?” Patton asked, his voice barely above a whisper. Virgil pressed a kiss into his hair and smiled. 

“Of course.” He made a move to get up, to let Patton have the bed, but the paternal side was having none of it. He pulled Virgil back down, then leaned the two of them back until they were lying flat on Virgil’s bed, Patton snuggling up against Virgil’s side and using the anxious side’s shoulder as a pillow. Virgil rolled his eyes fondly at the display, but allowed himself to be moved. He reached over with his free hand and intertwined his fingers with Patton’s, closing his eyes and letting out a contented sigh of his own. Eventually, the two fell asleep that way, tangled in each other’s arms with soft smiles on their faces. 

After that night, Patton didn’t worry as much about his room becoming overwhelming. 

He knew where he could turn, “at any hour of the night or day.” 

**Author's Note:**

> This story was written based on a prompt from tumblr user @punkassplonker. The summary is the prompt, slightly re-worded to work as...you know, a summary.


End file.
